Peter Snell

For the Canadian film producer, see Peter Snell (producer). For the American acoustic engineer, see Snell Acoustics.

Sir Peter Snell
KNZM OBE
Snell at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Birth namePeter George Snell[1]
Born(1938-12-17)17 December 1938[1]
Ōpunake, New Zealand[1]
Died12 December 2019(2019-12-12) (aged 80)
Dallas, Texas, United States
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (176.4 lb; 12.6 st)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)800 m, 1500 m
Coached byArthur Lydiard
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800 metres: 1:44.3[2] (WR)
880 yards: 1:45.1 WR
1000 metres: 2:16.6 WR
1500 metres: 3:37.6[2]1
Mile: 3:54.4 WR[2]
Mile 3:54.1 WR
4 × 1 mile relay: 16.23.8 WR (with Murray Halberg, Gary Philpott & Barry Magee)
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome 800 metres
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 800 metres
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 1500 metres
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1962 Perth 880 yards
Gold medal – first place 1962 Perth 1 mile

Sir Peter George Snell KNZM OBE (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner.[3] He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics,[4] in 1964.

Snell had a relatively short career as a world-famous international sportsman, 1960–1965, yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand's "Sports Champion of the (20th) Century"[5] and was one of 24 inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame named in 2012.[6] A protégé of the New Zealand athletics coach Arthur Lydiard, Snell is known for the three Olympic and two Commonwealth Games gold medals he won, and the several world records he set.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Peter Snell". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c All-Athletics. "Profile of Peter Snell". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  3. ^ "'The greatest athlete NZ has had': Olympian Sir Peter Snell has died, age 80". 16 June 2023.
  4. ^ Peter Snell wins second gold in Tokyo, NZ Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 18-Aug-2015
  5. ^ "New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame". Peter Snell. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  6. ^ IAAF Hall of Fame. "Peter Snell to be inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame". IAAF Hall of Fame. Retrieved 5 August 2012.